


Day 346

by Josh_the_Bard



Series: A Year in Kirkwall [346]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age II
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2020-12-13
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:48:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28039422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Josh_the_Bard/pseuds/Josh_the_Bard
Series: A Year in Kirkwall [346]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1589257
Kudos: 1





	Day 346

Thrask only heard about the incident through Hugh. Meredith was hoarding more and more information from even her own templars. Sometimes a mage would disappear only the templars directly involved would know why, and they were usually sworn to secrecy. The only reason Hugh knew about the abomination was because he found the bodies when he went in to empty the chamber pots. About the only job he was trusted with these days.

“Sir Hector was dead when I arrived,” he said. “The abomination was standing over him with a knife in its eye. It wasn’t moving but I cut the head off… just to be sure.”

“A knife?,” Thrask queried. “Was Sir Hector taken by surprise?” Hugh shook his head.

“I… he didn’t have his armor on… I think,” the boy trailed off. Being a templar was never easy, you were greeted by new horrors every day. The worse ones were when the horrors were committed by your brothers and sister in arms. All the mages had been confined to their quarters since the latest attack and they were under constant guard, and utterly at the mercy of the templars.

The mages and templars both knew Meredith wouldn’t question any accusations of blood magic or conspiracy right now. Their charges were one word away from execution. That Sir Hector had probably used that to coerce Enchanter Nathania was unforgivable. He got what he deserved, through Nethania certainly had not.

Thrask refused to believe that this was Andraste’s intent when she had crafted the Chant of Light. The templars should be there to defend against outside magical threats and to be there to support young mages while they learned to control their power. They should be making the mags as comfortable as possible or at least keeping the negativity to a minimum, the better to safeguard against demon possession.

Thrask tracked the Knight Captain down at the gates of the phylactery chamber. Standard procedure when a body was too warped to identify by sight was to check their phylactery to confirm their death. Evelina was there with him, as well as a tranquil elf. By ancient rights you needed a templar and mage both to enter the chamber. By convention it was supposed to be the job of the First Enchanter, but Meredith no longer trusted Orsino further than she could throw him.

“Knight Captain,” Thrask called out. Cullen turned and frowned.

“I have things well under control, Thrask,” he muttered.

“Do you?” Thrask demanded. Evelyna backed into an alcove, trying to make herself as small as possible. The tranquil remained where she was, nonplussed by the events around her.

“I’m in no mood for-”

“These measures are causing more problems than they prevent,” Thrask said. “The more stress we put the mages under the easier prey they are for demons.”

“We have been attacked farr too many times,” Cullen said, “and far too effectively for me to believe that none among the Circle are aiding the apostates. Meredith believes-”

“Meredith had no idea what is best for the Circle,” Thrask hissed. He was in dangerous territory he knew. Meredith would expel him if he heard what he said, but Cullen was more forgiving. He had known Sampson before the man was banished, and had wasted the man deteriorate without reliable lyrium. 

“You must have noticed how she talks to voices only she can hear,” Thrask insisted. “All templars face this decline. It is your duty as Knight Captain to relieve her of command. You can turn us from the path she had set us on before the entire Circle falls.”

“I have seen what liberties mages will take when given too much freedom. When they are not watched carefully,” Cullen said, voice terrifyingly soft. “Meredith is not succumbing to lyrium madness. She is under a great deal of strain trying to keep controle.”

“Trying and failing,” Thrask insisted. “The templars were never meant to have so much power over our charges. No one should have this much power over another. It corrupts the mind as surely as any demon.”

“It is a fraction of the power mages can exert over us without warning,” Cullen retorted. “We must make the mages understand that this is a temporary necessity until we find the conspirators.”

“Knight Captain-”

“You are dismissed Lieutenant,” Cullen snapped. Thrask decided not to press his luck further today. He backed his way further down the steps, almost tripping over the tranquil elf. Thrask recognized her from the day of the attack. She had been fighting demons, using a mage’s staff as a spear. Thrask had never met a tranquil who could fight like that but Nalanna, he remembered she was called, had spent years as an apostate before coming to the Circle.

“You are not like the other templars,” she said. Thrask shifted uncomfortably under her gaze.

“No,” he replied sadly. “No I don’t suppose I am.” Thrask turned to leave but Nalanna caught his arm.

“Come by the tranquil quarters tonight, I would have words with you.”

She let him go and Thrask made his way back to the barracks.


End file.
